Menu Adam R Brown

Return to the Guide to the Utah Legislature.

Representative David Clark
Utah legislator profile

Years served in the Utah legislature

First session in legislature: 2001
Most recent year of service for which data are available: 2011
Total sessions served in Utah House as of 2011: 12
Total sessions served in Utah Senate as of 2011: 0

How to read the statistical profile

I present a variety of statistics about Rep. David Clark's service in the Utah legislature. I highlight differences from chamber averages using little green and red arrows. The number of arrows is statistically determined. More arrows indicate a larger difference compared to the chamber average, in relation to how much diversity there is among legislators on this metric. If all legislators introduce exactly 5 bills, then a legislator who introduces 10 is very different; if legislators vary wildly in how many bills they introduce (but the average is still 5), then a legislator who introduces 10 bills may be less different from average. The standard deviation measures this diversity.

Rep. Clark's statistical profile

20072008200920102011
Service summary. Service prior to 2007 (if any) is not shown here. My database goes back only to 2007.
  Chamber HouseHouseHouseHouseHouse
  District H74H74H74H74H74
  Party RRRRR
Leadership MajLdrMajLdrSpeakerSpeakerNone
Years in chamber 89101112
Years comparison HigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher
 
20072008200920102011
Bills sponsored (learn more) Bills written and promoted by the legislator in his/her own chamber.
Introduced by Clark 1081614
Chamber average 6.16.15.96.16.3
Difference +3.9+1.9-4.9-0.1+7.7
Comparison HigherHigherLowerLower==HigherHigher
 
20072008200920102011
Bill passage rate (learn more). What percent of Rep. Clark's sponsored bills pass and are officially "enrolled"? (I ignore whether the governor signed or vetoted the bill.)
Bills introduced 1081614
Bills passed 971611
Passage rate 90%88%100%100%79%
Chamber average 51%53%60%61%55%
Difference +39+35+40+39+24
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher
 
20072008200920102011
Bills floor sponsored. A "floor sponsor" is like a secondary sponsor of a bill. After a bill passes the sponsor's chamber, its sponsor needs to find a "floor sponsor" in the other chamber to usher it through the other chamber.
Total floor sponsored 1514103
Chamber average 3.13.22.82.83.3
Difference +12+11-1.8-2.8-0.3
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherLowerLower==
 
20072008200920102011
Missed votes (learn more). Usually missed votes occur because of competing obligations within the legislature, not because the legislator has left the capitol.
Missed votes 12578879451
Total votes held 602616600614651
Absentee rate 21%13%15%15%7.8%
Chamber average 8.3%8.3%6.0%6.8%7.1%
Difference +13+4.7+9.0+8.2+0.7
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher==
 
20072008200920102011
"Nay" votes (learn more). Most floor votes pass by overwhelming majorities, since unpopular bills get weeded out long before they reach the floor. As a result, "nay" votes are rare.
"Nay" votes 2529393546
Total votes held 602616600614651
"Nay" rate 4.2%4.7%6.5%5.7%7.1%
Chamber average 7.2%6.0%8.1%7.4%8.4%
Difference -3.0-1.3-1.6-1.7-1.3
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLower==
 
20072008200920102011
Winning side rate (learn more). What percentage of the time (excluding near-unanimous votes) is the legislator on the winning side of a floor vote?
Winning side rate 78%73%65%78%71%
Chamber average 67%69%66%69%69%
Difference +11+4.2-2.0+9.4+2.3
Comparison Higher====Higher==
 
20072008200920102011
Ideology score (NOMINATE method) (learn more). Using W-NOMINATE algorithm developed by Congressional scholars, I calculate each legislator's relative ideology after each General Session. I describe the method here. Scores have no intrinsic meaning. They are only relative: A legislator with a higher score is to the right ideologically of a legislator with a lower scale. Scores may be compared only within a single chamber and a single year. In most years, a conservative Republican will have a score above 0; a score close to 100 is extreme.
Contact me for scores. They get misinterpreted often enough that I now provide them only to political scientists.
 
20072008200920102011
Party support score (overall) (learn more). How consistently does Rep. Clark support his/her party? That is, what percentage of the time does the legislator vote with the majority of the other members of his/her party? Scores are usually easily above 90%.
Score (overall) 97%96%94%96%95%
Chamber average 95%95%94%95%94%
Difference +2.6+0.7-0.5+1.4+0.8
Comparison HigherHigher====Higher==
 
20072008200920102011
Party support score (party-line only) (learn more). This is the same as the "raw" party support score, but we look only at party-line votes when calculating this. A "party-line" vote occurs when the majority of Democrats votes against the majority of Republicans. Although party-line votes are rare, looking at the legislator's party support score in this setting can be revealing.
Score (party-line only) 90%87%85%93%96%
Chamber average 79%82%81%84%85%
Difference +11+4.8+3.4+8.9+11
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher

Votes on Rep. Clark's bills

Many votes have been held on bills sponsored by Rep. Clark. In the interest of space, I display only the most and least divisive votes held on Rep. Clark's bills.

Rep. Clark's most divisive bills

Listed below are the 10 votes on bills sponsored by Rep. Clark that had the closest vote margin (as a percent of the total votes cast). When there are ties, I list the most recent bills first.

Year Sponsor Bill Ayes Nays Margin
(as % of total votes)
Type of vote
2007 Clark HB0176S01 13 15 7.1% Senate/ failed
2007 Clark HB0176S01 15 11 15% Senate/ pass 2nd
2007 Clark HB0176S01 17 12 17% Senate/ pass 3rd
2011 Clark HB0260S03 47 27 27% House/ passed 3rd reading
2007 Clark HJR009 46 20 39% House/ passed 3rd reading
2007 Clark HB0013 53 20 45% House/ passed 3rd reading
2010 Clark HCR008 17 6 48% Senate/ passed 2nd reading
2008 Clark HB0079 53 17 51% House/ passed 3rd reading
2011 Clark HB0008S01 20 6 54% Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension
2011 Clark HB0496S02 51 15 55% House/ passed 3rd reading

Rep. Clark's least divisive bills

Listed below are the 10 votes on bills sponsored by Rep. Clark that had the widest vote margin (as a percent of the total votes cast). When there are ties, I display the most recent bills first.

Year Sponsor Bill Ayes Nays Margin
(as % of total votes)
Type of vote
2011 Clark HB0496S02 28 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension
2011 Clark HB0496S02 28 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension
2011 Clark HB0453S01 65 0 100% House/ concurs with Senate amendment
2011 Clark HB0453S01 24 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension
2011 Clark HB0453S01 70 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2011 Clark HB0266 26 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2011 Clark HB0266 73 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2011 Clark HB0263S01 71 0 100% House/ concurs with Senate amendment
2011 Clark HB0263S01 24 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2011 Clark HB0263S01 24 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd reading